Mike Tyson

Born Michael Gerard Tyson in Brooklyn, NY on June 30, 1966, he was one of three children born to Lorna Smith and Jimmy Kirkpatrick, who abandoned the family when Tyson was two. As was often the case with fatherless children, Tyson's early life was plagued by turmoil; financial difficulties forced the family to leave Bedford-Stuyvesant for the tough public housing in the East Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville, and Tyson quickly fell in with a bad crowd. By the time he was 13, he had amassed a criminal record of 38 arrests, as well as a reputation for street brawling, which was often spurred by comments about his high-pitched speaking voice and pronounced lisp. He was eventually sent to the... Continue Bio >>